Tonal trends and α-motif in the first movement of Brahms' string quartet op. 51 nr. 1

Abstract

In this paper, we study the first movement of Brahms' op. 51 nr. 1 in two musical dimensions. On the one hand, we investigate tonal trends and tonal extremes. On the other, we study the positions of Forte's (and Huron's) α-motif in relation to the musical form. We find that α-motives are especially prevalent in the development section. We also combine these two musical dimensions to see whether the α-motives have some relation to tonal trends. They proved to occur more prominently in remote tonal regions than in those near the main tonality. © 2010 Taylor & Francis.